If the four-day Easter weekend seems like a distant memory, and you are already wondering "when will I get another long weekend?" don't worry, it won't be long until we can enjoy an extra few days off again.

And, fingers crossed, with the next bank holidays being in late spring there might even be a chance of sunshine. Just a chance, of course...

Will we get some hot bank holidays? Fingers crossed...

In May, the nation will be treated to not one, but two bank holidays - unfortunately neither of these is for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding.

The couple are set to tie the knot on Saturday, May 19 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, however Theresa May has revealed that there will not be a public holiday for the event.

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An official spokesman for the PM said: “There are no plans for a bank holiday. There isn’t a precedent in this area.”

So, royal nuptials aside, here is everything you need to know about your next long-weekend.

Why do we get bank holidays?

In 1871 the first legislation relating to bank holidays was passed, when politician and banker Sir John Lubbock introduced the Bank Holidays Act.

Under the Act, no person was required to make payment or do any monetary act on the day - that they were not compelled to on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday - these dates were already recognised as common law holidays.

The nation was so delighted by the news that the first few bank holidays were nicknamed St Lubbock's Days.

Bank holidays ... did you know?

The first official bank holidays were named in the Bank Holiday Act 1871.

In England, Wales and Ireland, Good Friday, Christmas Day and Sunday were considered traditional days of rest and it was felt unnecessary to include them in the Act.

The August Bank Holiday weekend started in 1965 on an experimental basis.

The Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 currently regulates bank holidays in the UK.

The date of the August bank holiday was changed from the first Monday in August to the last Monday in August, and the Whitsun bank holiday (Whit Monday) was replaced by the Late Spring Bank Holiday, fixed as the last Monday in May.

New Year's Day did not become a bank holiday in England until January 1, 1974.

May Day was introduced throughout the UK in 1978.

In 1978 the first Monday in May in the rest of the UK, and the final Monday of May in Scotland, were designated as bank holidays.

When are the May bank holidays?

How will you use yours? (Image: MM Productions)

Brits will enjoy the first of the two holidays on May 7.

The public is given the day off to celebrate May Day, which actually falls on the 1st.

May Day celebrates the turn of the season. It is marked by Morris and maypole dancing.

May Day facts

May Day has been a day of festivities for centuries, as towns and villages celebrated springtime fertility.

Seeding was completed by this date so it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off.

Village fetes and community gatherings are common celebrations.

Other rites include crowning a May Queen and maypole dancing, where dancers circle the maypole with ribbons.

This bank holiday actually falls on the first Monday in May, and is now usually referred to as the Early May Bank Holiday. May Day itself - May 1 - is only a public holiday if it falls on a Monday.

May Day was abolished and its celebration banned for a time by Puritan parliaments after the execution of Charles I.

Morris dancing is now associated with May Day celebrations as well.

May Day has been an official public holiday since 1978, when provisions were made in the Banking and Financial Dealings Act. Prior to this, it was only a day off for everyone in Scotland.

The second Bank Holiday is on May 28. This is known as the Spring Bank Holiday.